REVIEWS COURTESY OF ZXSR

Trio
Hit-Pak
1987
Crash Issue 43, Aug 1987   page(s) 18,19

Producer: Hit-Pak
Retail Price: £9.95
Author:

Compilations have been burgeoning recently, but Elite's Trio is different. All three games on this compilation are new.

First off there's the follow-up to Elite's successful TV licence Airwolf, not unsurprisingly titled Airwolf II. This sequel departs dramatically from reality as Stringfellow Hawke and his magnificent all-singing, all-dancing helicopter are sent to destroy a terrorising alien craft.

The chopper can move in any direction within the two-dimensional onscreen space zone. Bulbous beasties, fighter craft, and space constructions with gun emplacements must be negotiated - and if you touch any you lose a life.

The helicopter is armed with a blaster, and Airwolf's fire power can be augmented by collecting rotating objects which spin across the screen.

In the second game, 3DC, you're stranded on a wet, effluent-covered sea bed, and it's no fun unless you like that kind of thing. But escape from this traditionally isometric 3-D watery world is possible - if you can assemble the scattered sections of a submarine. Items found on the sea bed, such as a book and a key, can help you.

There are dangers. You have only three tanks of oxygen, and a molesting octopus might steal one, though his light-tentacled kleptomania can be curbed if you've got the right object. And subaqua activity increases the amount of dangerous nitrogen in your body…

But there's always Eric the eel, who can be controlled and squirms his slimy flanks into places too small for your bulk.

Third of the trio is Great Gurianos. Armed with a sword and shield and clad into a made-to-measure suit from Burton's Armoury Dept, the great Gurianos embarks upon his most dangerous mission.

As he progresses through a medieval-style flick-screen world, Gurianos encounters hostile warriors out to spill his superior blood. He can temporarily activate a protector shield that guards against flying objects, but sadly this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

A series of swords also directs its scything attentions toward our hero, who must use his own sword to deflect the sharp points. And after dealing with four pieces of lethal cutlery, Gurianos develops a red supersword which gives him invincibility in combat. Swiping an airborne ball gives Gurianos extra armour for his adventure, too.

COMMENTS

Control keys: all games definable
Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2
Use of colour: Airwolf II uses one colour and black, 3DC largely monochromatic but clever on last screen, Great Gurianos is pretty
Graphics: small and rather simple on Airwolf II, well designed isometric perspective on 3DC, large and detailed on Great Gurianos
Sound: varies between games, but some neat tunes and more useful than colourful FX
Skill levels: one


Airwolf II is a real good shoot-'em-up, with all the playability of the original Airwolf and a lot of new features to keep you addicted. The sprites are well-defined and colour is used quite effectively. It's a fine follow-up to a brilliant game. But look out, world - Great Gunanos is another violent game! it seems all you have to do is pierce as much flesh as you can. The graphics and colour are quite effective, but the addictivity is almost nil, and this game will only appeal to the swordfight addicts. 3DC is more than JUST ANOTHER 3-D game - it's good. The scenario is fairly simple, but the special effects make this game worth a look; and there's a good tune at the beginning and a neat use of colour on the last screen. Trio is a really worthwhile compilation.
NICK


Basically a shoot-'em-up, Airwolf II follows in the flight path of Transmuter and Nemesis; flying through space (helicopters in space?) and blowing away as many blowawayable things as possible. It's trashable once you've had a couple of long goes. As for Great Gurianos, well, coin-op conversions are all well and good if the machines they're licensed from are okay. But Great Gurianos isn't. The conversion is full of flickery graphics and annoyingly erratic gameplay - killing or be killed has more to do with luck than skill. It may appeal to some, but I'd give it a miss. 3DC is a horribly corny title for an aquatic forced-perspective game, but it's not bad in the 'collect the bits to make something useful' style. The gameplay, ace effects and pretty graphics make this the best game of the package.
BEN


Airwolf II was a disappointment; I enjoyed the first Airwolf, but I was bored with the sequel in ten minutes. Even on a compilation, that's not long enough. Great Gurianos (daft name) appeared to be a bit better, but after a few minutes its appeal waned, too. All rested on 3DC. And whadya know, it's quite good! The end-of-game screen is absolutely brilliant: they've blurred the background and pushed the little processor to the outer limits of speed to produce one of the most effective colour displays I've seen. Though Trio isn't inspiring, three games at this price means excellent value for money.
MIKE

REVIEW BY: Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Mike Dunn

Overall70%
Summary: General rating: each game in itself is above average, with 3DC coming out top, but the whole package represents good value and hours of playing time.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 20, Aug 1987   page(s) 60,61

A musical note. In a trio you have the high, middle and low instruments to provide variety to the music. The same goes for this collection of three games, but we wouldn't advise you to play them all at the same time. Instead take them one by one and you'll discover... yes, highs, lows and the middle ground. The problem is deciding which program is which. We couldn't!

Suddenly somebody had the bright idea. "Let's throw them to the dynamic duo." So we locked Gwyn and Rachael in the reviewing room to see what would happen... then, when we had enough photographs to blackmail them, we sat down in front of a Spectrum! After all, two heads are better than one, even when one belongs to a gormless tottie and other to a crazed strategist. "Here's the Trio," we snarled. "Now let's hear ya sing!"

3DC

Rachael: Round three and it's the under the sea! But there's something decidedly wet about this Ultimate-style game... particularly when it's seen in the light of Hydrofool. It certainly sinks compared with Sweevo's submarine adventures.

All the usual features are here, such as the cryptic objects which you collect as you wonder around the maze of soggy screens, the six pockets in your diving suit, and the time limit which is linked to the amount of oxygen you use.

But there isn't enough to dodge in this arcade adventure to get the blood pounding through your veins... instead it merely trickles. I'm sure you're not supposed to doze off when you're five fathoms down but I reckon I'd rather drown. This is definitely Davy Jones-ville!

For a start there are some clever landscapes to keep you guessing. Then there's Eric the Eel, who can be collected then used to reach into areas that your portly frogman can't get into. And let's not forget the octopus, which appears whenever you dawdle and robs you of your oxygen tanks, which will leave you gasping.

I liked the way that jumping also shortens your life, to make you think about what you're doing, but it's a pity that your diver can't swim - that could have livened things up no end. I'm sure that it won't take forever to solve this but I've seen far worse games. Not bad considering you can have two copies for an ill octopus... or should that be a sick squid?

Gwyn: Hey, hang on a minute frog-face... err, sorry, frogwoman! I reckon Rachael doesn't like 3DC because there's nothing that she can shoot in it. Sure, I have to agree that the ocean bed is a bit bare, but it's no place to nod off.

GREAT GURIANOS

Gwyn: Brill idea to call this game Great Gwyn-Hughes... Wha'? Where's me reading glasses. Whoops, Sorry. It's Gurianos. Hang on... isn't that the posh word for bird doodies? (No, it's not! Ornithological Ed).

No, it seems that the Great Gurianos is a warrior embarking on a deadly quest armed only with a shield and razor sharp sword. His mission? To make it out of the arcades onto the Spectrum. And he jolly wen nearly did it... but the fact that he surfaced on this compilation must suggest that he's not an all-time high scorer in the conversion hall of fame.

Great Gury... sorry, do you mind if I call him G..? (Nay. Ed) (Sorry, do you feel a little hoarse? Rachael) G.G. walks left to right while a weird selection of stars, sparks and other assorted mystical missiles fly at him from the right. They come thick and fast so it's time for the frantic joystick shuffle, moving the sword and shield up and down.

The secret is to hit flying shields to strengthen your shield, smash four swords to get a super sword and slash the flying ball for extra armour. Try to round up as many of these as possible before you reach the first warrior.

Suddenly the action turns into a cut and thrust combat game and if you thought the approach was quick you wait till you get into close combat. You really have to move like there's twenty-five thousand volts flowing through you if you're to kill all your opponents. It's here that the super sword comes in - it makes you invincible.

And that's about it! You walk and then you scrap and then you stroll some more. Not the most inspiring of plots, and though it all moves unbelievably fast and the characters are big and colourful it's not overly playable.

Rachael: Disappointing Gurianos might have been a better title. It's just lacklustre, so unless you were into the coin-op original you may find you give this one the big E.

AIRWOLF II

Rachael: Well curdle me cucumber, mes petits mange touts, if it ain't ol' Stringbean Hawk and his chopper. He can dice my carrot any time he likes.

Trio takes off with a sequel to the game that won the award for the most difficult shoot 'em up ever when it first appeared. Gameplay was so well judged on this that most people never survived the first screen. You can understand why Airwolf II has appeared on a compilation though. The TV series is hardly the hot tie-in it once was - in fact it's more cold salad than boiled brussels. The game is much more a standard horizontal blaster too - none of that devilish cavern plot.

But the game's all the better for that. Because though you'll have seen scores of scrollers like this in the past there's always something addictive about a good one - and this is certainly well balanced.

The sprite size is perfect for the play area, so that there's lots of room to manouevre but there's still some detail. Also the aliens follow set patterns, which lets you learn how to dodge them as you progress. But the best thing is the weaponry feature.

You start the game with a missile launcher, but it doesn't take long before you encounter a throbbing spot! No, it's not a zit about to burst - it's a weapon waiting for you to pick it up. You can increase your arsenal with smart bombs, extra speed, double fire power, a plasma gun, a shield and who knows what other goodies? I certainly don't because once you select your reserve feature you go back to the start again.

That means that it may not be wise to use the smart bomb every time you get one... It may be better to dodge then promote it to double fire. Dodging plays a big part in this game - another reason to learn the attack patterns. You also have to blow holes in walls - a throwback to the original, though it's nowhere near so impossible this time - and negotiate pixel thin tunnels.

The monochrome graphics are satisfactory and though the sound is rather sparse the effects are okay. I reckon Stringbean and his whirlybird could make me a vegetarian. I liked it alot-ment.

Gwyn: How can I follow a mush of mash like that? Perhaps I should join the Greens, or maybe live in Scandinavia and become a Swede. Sorry, I can't keep up with the punning but for once I agree with Rachael. An enjoyable shooter which wouldn't cut it at full price, but it certainly gets Trio off the ground.

Trio is the eternal triangle... It's got something for the shoot 'em up sure-shot, the hand-to-hand melee merchant and the arcade adventurer with webbed feet. But do these three parts add up to a satisfactory three course meal?

Both Gwyn and Rachael felt that Airwolf was a lot of fun and were disappointed by Great Gurianos, but opinions differed on 3DC. It was a classic case of best of three falls. In the end Rachael decided to be generous, mumbling something about how the pack should please anyone who's just bought a Spectrum. So the final scores are...


REVIEW BY: Gwyn Hughes, Rachael Smith

Graphics7/10
Playability8/10
Value For Money8/10
Addictiveness8/10
Overall8/10
Summary: Sampler of games that wouldn't stand alone but are quite fun together. But you might do better with three budget games.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 70, Aug 1987   page(s) 38

MACHINES: Spectrum/Amstrad/CBM 64
SUPPLIER: Elite
PRICE: £9.95 cassette/£14.95 disk
VERSION TESTED: Spectrum/Amstrad

Things have been a little quiet on the games from at Elite recently, no doubt gearing up for the Christmas blitz.

But the Walsall boys have found time to put out three excellent compilation tapes for not an excessive amount of dosh.

The Trio Hit Pak - Trio sounds a bit like a chocolate bar to me - is available across the three main formats with most of the games common to each.

This is what you get: Spectrum and Amstrad - Great Gurianos, Airwolf Two and 3DC. Commodore 64 - Great Gurianos, Airwolf Two and Cataball.

Great Gurianos is the old Taito coin op game and for me it's the best of the bunch. Hack and slash with nice big cartoon graphics.

I'm much too young to remember Elite's original Airwolf game based on the adventures of TV helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke (what a dumb name). 3DC is a 3D arcade adventure set underwater in which a diver must reconstruct a submarine while fighting off deep sea nasties. Cataball is a bit odd. You control four bounding balls, which move in a wave-like motion, against a series of backdrops in an effort to collect ballons. Strange but playable.

Great Gurianos gets my top vote but when you add three other good playable games.


REVIEW BY: Paul Boughton

Blurb: AMSTRAD SCORES Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 9/10 Value: 9/10 Playability: 9/10

Graphics7/10
Sound6/10
Value9/10
Playability9/10
Transcript by Chris Bourne

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